|
The power painkiller OxyContin is being
abused by more and more people across
the nation. The heroin-like effects of the drug attract both legitimate
and illegitimate users.
When used properly, OxyContin contains a time-release mechanism
that spreads the release of the drug over a 12-hour period.
The time-release mechanism can be circumvented
by crushing the tablet and the drug can be used in one of the following
ways:
 •
The tablets can be chewed
• The tablets can be crushed, then snorted like cocaine
• The tablets can be crushed, dissolved in water, then injected
like heroin
OxyContin abuse is spreading for a variety of reasons.
First, the elevated opiate dosage makes it highly addictive. Second,
in contrast to drugs such as cocaine or heroin that can be laced
with other substances, with OxyContin you know how much of the drug
you are getting; the dosage is consistent, so it is a dependable
high. Finally, OxyContin is covered by most health insurance plans,
so it is significantly cheaper than street drugs. (OxyContin has
been referred to as "hillbilly heroin" or "the poor
man's heroin.")
Oxycontin Addiction
OxyContin is an opiate agonist. Opiate agonists provide pain relief
by acting on opioid receptors in the spinal cord, brain, and possibly
in the tissues directly. Opioids, natural or synthetic classes of
drugs that act like morphine, are the most effective pain relievers
available. Oxycodone is manufactured by modifying thebaine, an alkaloid
found in opium. Oxycodone has a high potential for Oxycontin abuse
and Oxycontin addiction. If you are abusing Oxycontin, it is essential
you get professional Oxycontin addiction treatment as soon as you
can.
Oxycodone is a central nervous system depressant. Oxycodone's action
appears to work through stimulating the opioid receptors found in
the central nervous system that activate responses ranging from
analgesia to respiratory depression to euphoria. People who take
the drug repeatedly can develop a tolerance or resistance to the
drug's effects. Thus, a cancer patient can take a dose of oxycodone
on a regular basis that would be fatal in a person never exposed
to oxycodone or another opioid. Most individuals who abuse oxycodone
seek to gain the euphoric effects, mitigate pain, and avoid withdrawal
symptoms associated with oxycodone or heroin abstinence.
Effects of OxyContin
Respiratory depression is the chief hazard from all opioid usage,
occurring most frequently in elderly or debilitated patients, usually
following large initial doses in non-tolerant patients, or when
opioids are given in conjunction with other agents that depress
respiration.
Common opioid side effects are:
• Constipation, nausea and vomiting
• Sedation and dizziness
• Headache and dry mouth
• Sweating and weakness
Oxycodone should be used with extreme caution
in patients with significant chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
and in patients having a substantially decreased respiratory reserve,
hypoxia, hypercapnia, or preexisting respiratory depression. In
such patients, even usual therapeutic doses of oxycodone may decrease
respiratory drive to the point of apnea. In these patients alternative
non-opioid analgesics should be considered, and opioids should be
employed only under careful medical supervision at the lowest effective
dose.
Oxycodone causes miosis, even in total
darkness. Pinpoint pupils are a sign
of opioid overdose but are not pathognomonic. Marked mydriasis rather
than miosis may be seen due to hypoxia in overdose situations.
Oxycodone causes a reduction in motility
associated with an increase in smooth muscle tone in the antrum
of the stomach and duodenum. Digestion of food in the small intestine
is delayed and propulsive contractions are decreased. Propulsive
peristaltic waves in the colon are decreased, while tone may be
increased to the point of spasm resulting in constipation. Other
opioid-induced effects may include a reduction in gastric, biliary
and pancreatic secretions, spasm of sphincter of Oddi, and transient
elevations in serum amylase.
Oxycodone may produce release
of histamine with or without associated peripheral vasodilation.
Manifestations of histamine release and/or peripheral vasodilation
may include pruritus, flushing, red eyes, sweating, and/or orthostatic
hypertension.
Studies
in normal volunteers and patients reveal predictable relationships
between oxycodone dosage and plasma oxycodone concentrations, as
well as between concentration and certain expected opioid effects.
In normal volunteers these include papillary constriction, sedation
and overall "drug effect" and in patients, analgesia and
feelings of "relaxation." In non-tolerant patients, analgesia
is not usually seen at a plasma oxycodone concentration of less
than 5&endash; 10 ng/mL.
As with all Opioids,
the minimum effective plasma concentration for analgesia will vary
widely among patients, especially among patients who have been previously
treated with potent agonist opioids. As a result, patients need
to be treated with individualized titration of dosage to the desired
effect. The minimum effective analgesic concentration of oxycodone
for any individual patient may increase with repeated dosing due
to an increase in pain and/or the development of tolerance.
OxyContin addiction
The powerful prescription pain reliever has become a hot new street
drug that has resulted in more than 120 deaths nationwide. It will
give you a high much like HIGH GRADE heroin but with worse consequences.
5mg of OXY has has as much active ingredient (oxycodone) as One
percocet. So chewing/snorting a 40mg OXY is like taking 8 percocets
at once or a 80mg Oxy is like taking 16 percocets all at once.
Overdose Symptoms:
Slow breathing, seizures, dizziness, weakness, loss of consciousness,
coma, confusion, tiredness, cold and clammy skin, and small pupils.
OxyContin should be used to fight extreme pain. Doctors commonly
prescribe it to cancer patients as an alternative to morphine. The
drug is addictive, expensive, and when misused, it can be lethal.
OxyContin abuse is becoming an epidemic in several rural states.
Physical dependence, which is sometimes unavoidable, develops when
an individual is exposed to a drug at a high enough dosage for long
enough that the body adapts and develops a tolerance for the drug.
This means that higher doses are needed to achieve a drug's original
effects. If the patient stops taking the drug, withdrawal will occur.
Just like heroin it is almost impossible to do alone as the withdrawal
symptoms of OxyContin are worse than heroin and last longer. Professional
help from a heroin detox center is the best and safest way to do
this but there is NO painless way.
Drug craving is the result of the drug's imprinting in the memory
of a pleasant association of euphoria with the drug. The subconscious
memory then motivates the individual to seek this drug because of
the false imprint. The brain, in effect, has been trained that using
the drug is the fastest way to feel good. This learning process
then produces a new appetite or drive to seek the drug which we
call craving.
This craving is most often activated by:
• Memory of pleasure.
• When we feel bad and have a habit of using the drug to rapidly
feel good.
• When we are in a situation with people, places and activities
in which a previous habit pattern of drug use has been established.
Prescription drugs,
like other addictive drugs, are able to short-circuit your survival
system by artificially stimulating the reward center, or pleasure
areas in your brain, without anything beneficial happening to your
body. As this happens, it leads to increased confidence in the drug,
and less confidence in the normal rewards of life. This first happens
on a physical level. Then, it affects you psychologically. The big
drug lie results in decreased interest in other aspects of life,
as you increase your reliance and interest in the drug. People,
places and activities involved with using drugs become more important.
People, places and activities or lifestyles that worked through
your normal reward system, before using the drug, become less important
to you. After a while, a heavy drug user will actually resent people,
places, and activities that do not fit in with that drug use.
Addictive drugs mimic the action of chemicals your brain produces
to send messages of pleasure to your brain's reward center. They
produce an artificial feeling of pleasure. Most addictive drugs
are able to produce pleasurable effects by chemically acting like
certain normal brain messenger chemicals, which produce positive
feelings in response to signals from the brain.
Oxycontin Addiction Treatment
The result of oxycontin abuse is a dependence on the immediate,
fast, predictable drug which, at the same time, short circuits interests
in and the motivation to make life's normal rewards work. More and
more confidence is placed in the drug while other survival feelings
are ignored and bypassed. The result of this oxycontin addiction
cycle is a lack of concern for, and confidence in, other areas of
life. This onset of oxycontin addiction should be brought to the
attention of an Oxycontin addiction treatment facility as soon as
possible.
We
Help You Find Your Way! Call 877-456-3313 Now!
|
Last
Updated: 2/9/05
Copyright © 2005 Midwestdrugrehab.com -
All Rights Reserved |
|
